The most captive audience

       The article "The Most Captive Audience" by Jeff Deskovic talks about an inmate who was in prison for 16 years. Deskovic talks about how sports in the prison system has saved his life for the past 16 years incarcerated.  In prison, Deskovic explains how watching sports with his fellow inmates had brought them closer to each other and strengthened bonds, not only for him and the inmates but also with the guards. For someone like Deskovic, who was falsely accused of his crime, he often played basketball imagining he was Micheal Jordan himself. With doing this, he got away from it all by pretending he was in a big game himself. No matter what sport they had been playing, everyone respected the game or a "sense of honor" for the game. No matter whether it was sports on the t.v. or sports on the radio; it made it just a little easier to pass the hard times of prison. after 16 years in prison, Deskovic was realeased due to a innocence project, a project that was dedicated to overturning mistaken convictions.

I think sports is a great way for inmates to take their minds off the their time in prison. It is a good way to stay out of trouble and even make stronger bonds between inmates and faculty. Like deskovic states, it plays a large part in inmates life's to help cope and pass the time. If they ever took it away I think it was have terrible consequences for the whole prison.

Mcdonalds is not our kind of place

In the article, "McDonalds Is Not Our Kind Place" the author, Amitai Etzioni argues that jobs like fast food establishments, bowling alleys, etc. are not good places for teens to learn good working skills. Etzioni talks about how different it was in the past when teens used to have lemonade stands and paper routes, which the money was often used to help the family. Etzioni argues that the jobs teens have these day don't provide an opportunity for "self discipline, and self scheduling , like the old-fashioned paper route." He states that these jobs do not give todays teens the opportunity to take initiative nor use their creativity.  These jobs are said to provide a low probability for career incentives and provides no marketable skills. Due to the long hours of these "teenage jobs," kids tend to ignore their school work; thereby, reflects on the grades of these working teens. Etzioni says that even though some needy teens due use their money to support themselves, others put away their money for college tuitions, cars, or for a major purchase. He also states that many teens spend their money on "elements of American consumerism" like trendy clothes, trinkets, and other things that are big at the time for teens. The fact that these teens get money to buy the things they want, it is not suprising that they would rather work than go to school or do their homework.


Response:

I believe Etzioni does bring up some good points, but also seems like he lacks of experience and knowledge of an American teenager. These days there are many teens that do work at these places and do provide some income to their family, especially if they are in poor conditions. It is true that most of these jobs lead to almost no career but I believe everyone has to start somewhere. There are obviously more places out there than McDonalds that can let a teen learn self discipline and use their creativity, which can help in the future. I think Etzioni focuses on a lot of the negatives of having one of the teen jobs when I believe that having a job at all does a lot of good for teenagers, from keeping them out of trouble to being able to learn the responsibilities of having a job to spending and spending money responsibly.   

Blog #9

   In "Serve or Fail," Dave Eggers talks about how volunteer work can not only benefit our communities, but also benefit the college community. Eggers talks about the possibility of making a service requirement, which he says "wont work everywhere" but would be more likely for college students at four-year institutions. Eggers states that even though many community colleges will not work with this requirement, that it still leaves over six-million other students with more time to volunteer. Eggers brings up the idea that colleges could possibly give credits to students in return of volunteer work, stating "Perhaps every 25 hours of service could be traded for one class credit, with a maximum of three credits a year." Eggers brings up the argument of the time a student spends working at a shelter or a church could be equal to or surpass what he or she learns from other non volunteer activities. Eggers talks about what would happen if college students instead of becoming athletes, become life long volunteers and how it would be "good for everybody."

blog 8

In the article" North Carolina wants state religion, defying First Amendment" link By Riya Bhattacharjee the author talks about Rowan County, a county that wanted to only have one set religion in the area. Most of the county is made up of Christians, but some citizens were left feeling unwelcome because they believed in a different religious view. The fact that they are trying to do this goes against the first amendment but are still trying to get it passed for the state. Some think it is a good idea and some think it is a shame that they are even trying to consider going through with the plan.

I think it is a shame that they are trying to go through with it because doing so can make a lot of people in the county feel very unwelcome. If it goes through, it can even make the entire state look bad, therefore, many may not even want to associate themselves with North Carolina for that reason. They shouldn't be able to go against the first amendment and they should have to follow the same rules as every one else.

blog 6

In the article "New Web tool warns people if their tweet will get them fired" by By Riya Bhattacharjee of MSN News. the author talks about a new web tool that warns a twitter user if his or her tweet has the potential to get them fired. Kawase got the idea from a talk at his university on the web and its effect on the work place. Kawase states that there has been over 22000 tweets from people who have talked negatively about their work and bosses. The website also lists examples of tweets that have gotten people fired in the past. It also lists a number of celebrities that have gotten fired from their sponsors for certain tweets that made them look bad.

Personally, I don't think it is right that company can fire an employee for something he/she says on a personal account. I can see how the company looks at it but I still don't think it is necessary unless the post is a threat of violence or something alike. since people do have to worry about loosing their job over a comment online, I think this tool can cool some peoples temper and make them think twice about what they are doing.

Dear Dads: Save Your Sons

The article " Dear Dads: Save Your Sons" by Chrisopher N. Bacorn is about kids in America with out fathers. It starts out with one boy who had a deceased father and had after started falling into trouble without a male role model in his life. Bacorn talks about all the distractions or activities a lot of fathers tend to fall into like: bowling, shooting pool, drinking at the bars, or working all day jobs. Because these fathers aren't there for their kids they start to slip down the wrong path, whether it be in gangs, or hanging around with the wrong people which can lead to crimes and even jail time. Not all men are missing from their kids lives but Bacorn goes on to think about what if more fathers were there to give guidance to their children, it could help some families stay better off and also make happier homes.

I think Mr. Bacorn has a good point with this article, I see a lot of kids out there with just there mothers and their lives and some act like they have no discipline. A lot of teens these days will get a girl pregnant and will not stay to be a part of the child's life which in turn makes it much more difficult for the mother and child. I understand there are certain times when they cant help not being there, like a death of the father but I believe if a child does have a father they should be there for them and teach them right and wrong and just maybe it would keep some kids out of trouble. I think every child deserves a father, also I think if more kids had a father around it could potentially make the world a little better place here and there.

blog #5

In the article "Schools in crisis, reforms not working, federal panel declares"(link) By Stephanie Simon describes the current school system as a failing one. Many poor area schools have lowered the bar on education witch is supplying children with a poor education. Simons also states that many beginning teachers are also not ready to teach and have provided a lower quality of teaching. Overall, poor schools have less funding for education compared to wealthier areas which have two to three times the budget for supplies and teachers. The government has run into this problem a few other times in the last 50 years but there has not been a constant effort to fix the problem.

I think education is very important especially with all the distractions kids have these days. Every school no matter what district is in should have a certain amount of funding and the same quality of teachers. They should change the process of how one becomes a teacher so we don't have to hear that these teachers are thrown into their own class rooms with out the proper knowledge to teach our children. They propose to open more charter schools, which would be good for more students to get into school and maybe get more one on one time with teachers. The government and colleges should also work together to make sure all these problems get addressed, also that current and future teachers get the necessary training to guide and teach our future.

Blog #4
David Martinez
2013/02/13



http://t.money.msn.com/now/jump-start-or-job-killer-minimum-wage-hike-debated

this article is stating that in a current call to congress, President Obama brought up the idea to raise minimum wage from $7.25 to $9 an hour. The Senator of Florida responded to this speech by saying a minimum wage increase would not help the economy or struggling Americans. Some of the business communities say if they raised the minimum wage as a potential job killer, meaning some small businesses cant afford to give their employees more money nor to hire more help. some states on the other hand are on board to raise the minimum wage and see potential economical growth by it.


I think it would be a good idea to raise the minimum wage, it would give younger people more money to spend and may encourage more people to get up and find the jobs that even pay minimum wage. They say a family who has two kids with two parents  with minimum wage are still under the poverty line, so raising minimum wage would definitely help those needy Americans and at the same time help the economy.

blog#3 halted signing

This blog, by Scout.com is about a high school student named Alex Collins, who's mother withheld his intent letter to sign with Arkansas University. Its starts at a signing day ceremony, where many of the sports stations attend to cover where all the upcoming football stars intend on going for college, but on this day the star player does not attend. His mother took his letter of intent from him cause she'd rather him go to the hometown college of Miami. In the sports world if you are under 21, you must have a parent or guardian sign your letter for it to be official. Many sports casters were confused by this but hope soon that he will get the situation sorted out.


http://t.foxsports.msn.com/college-football/sources-mom-halted-prize-rbs-signing-with-Arkansas


I think Alex is in a tough spot where his mother wants him to stay close to home, but he would let to venture to a school of his choice. I would be a little embarrassed if it happened to me but I can see how his mother feels about him being close. It is unfair that he must have a guardian signature to complete his letter of intent, I think that should be up to the student if he or she is at age 18.

first blog

Hi, my name is David Martinez. I grew up in St. Paul but now live in Oakdale for the past 3 years. I am usually a busy person now a days, going to school and working full time keeps me pretty occupied. I used to travel to Texas once a year with my family, but these days we find it hard to get time to travel. I grew up with my mom, dad and three older brothers so we always had a full house growing up.

This is my first semester and first year at IHCC, so this is all pretty new to me. I plan on getting some sort of degree in IT so I can work with computers after college. I hopefully plan on having a successful career in the computer science world one day.